President's Committee on Civil Rights

President's Committee on Civil Rights
Agency name	President's Committee on Civil Rights
Formed	December 5, 1946
Dissolved	1947
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Chief1 name	Charles E. Wilson
Chief1 position	Chairman
Parent department	Executive Office of the President of the United States

President's Committee on Civil Rights

The President's Committee on Civil Rights was a temporary advisory board established by Executive Order 9808 signed by President Harry S. Truman on December 5, 1946. Its mandate was to examine the condition of civil rights in the United States and propose measures to strengthen and protect them. The committee's landmark 1947 report, *To Secure These Rights*, provided a comprehensive critique of racial discrimination and became a foundational document for the modern Civil Rights Movement, influencing subsequent federal policy and national discourse.

Establishment and Mandate

The committee was created in the aftermath of World War II, a period marked by rising awareness of the contradiction between America's fight for freedom abroad and the persistence of racial segregation and violence at home. Incidents like the brutal beating and blinding of Isaac Woodard, a Black United States Army veteran, in 1946 galvanized public opinion and prompted President Truman to act. The official mandate, as outlined in the executive order, was to inquire into and determine whether and in what respect current law-enforcement measures and the authority of the Federal government of the United States could be strengthened to safeguard the civil rights of the people. This was a significant, though cautious, step by the Truman administration to address a national moral and social challenge.

Key Members and Structure

The committee was composed of fifteen prominent citizens from various fields, appointed to lend credibility and a range of perspectives. It was chaired by Charles E. Wilson, the president of the General Electric Company, signaling an effort to involve the industrial and business community. Other notable members included Sad T. Alexander, a noted attorney; James B. Carey, a leader of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO); John S. Dickey, president of Dartmouth College; and Frank P. Graham, president of the University of North Carolina. The inclusion of Frank P. Graham and Dorothy Tilly, a Methodist laywoman from Georgia, provided voices familiar with the South. The committee's staff director was Robert K. Carr, a political scientist from Dartmouth College.

Findings and Recommendations

After ten months of hearings and study, the committee issued its report, *To Secure These Rights*, in October 1947. The document presented a stark, unflinching portrait of widespread discrimination against African Americans and other minorities in areas including voting rights, employment, education, housing, and public accommodations. It condemned the evils of lynching, police brutality, and the poll tax. The committee made over thirty specific recommendations for federal action. Key proposals included the establishment of a permanent Commission on Civil Rights, the creation of a Civil Rights Division within the United States Department of Justice, the enactment of federal anti-lynching legislation, the abolition of the poll tax, and the desegregation of the United States Armed Forces.

Impact on the Civil Rights Movement

The report's immediate impact was more ideological and programmatic than legislative. It provided the Civil Rights Movement with an authoritative, government-sanctioned blueprint for reform, legitimizing demands that had been voiced by organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Southern Regional Council. While Congress, dominated by a conservative coalition of Southern Democrats and Republicans, blocked most of its proposed laws, the report's influence was profound on the executive branch. It provided the intellectual foundation for President Truman's historic civil rights agenda, most notably leading to Executive Order 9981 in 1948, which mandated the desegregation of the U.S. military.

Political and Public Reception

The committee's work and its report generated intense political controversy. It was hailed by liberal groups, northern newspapers, and civil rights organizations as a courageous and necessary step. However, it was met with fierce opposition from the Democratic Party's powerful southern wing, which viewed it as a dangerous federal intrusion into states' rights and social customs. This backlash contributed to the Dixiecrat revolt during the 1948 presidential election, where Strom Thurmond ran on a States' rights platform. The public reception was similarly divided, reflecting the deep national schism over race that the committee itself had documented.

Legacy and Historical Significance

The historical significance of the President's Committee on Civil Rights is substantial. It represents the first time the Executive Office of the President comprehensively addressed racial inequality as a federal responsibility. Its report, *To Secure These Rights*, stands as a critical transitional document, bridging the early 20th-century reform efforts and the more confrontational Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Many of its specific recommendations, such as a permanent civil rights commission and stronger federal protection of voting rights, were later realized through the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The committee established a precedent for presidential leadership on civil rights, a precedent followed, however fitfully, by subsequent administrations.